


A Little Heart

by bavarian_angel



Category: MotoGP RPF, Motorcycling RPF, Motorsport RPF
Genre: Family, Heartbreak, Hospitals, Illnesses, Multi, Surgery
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-29
Updated: 2018-12-29
Packaged: 2019-09-30 02:20:31
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,922
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17215202
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bavarian_angel/pseuds/bavarian_angel
Summary: "Please, come here as soon as possible. I... we need you here, Marc..."Arriving back from the race at Sepang, Marc gets bad news.





	A Little Heart

**Author's Note:**

> This is a sequel to **Baby** , posted in my collection "Mosaic". It can stand alone, but makes a bit more sense when you know the first part, which you can find here: <https://archiveofourown.org/works/12507380/chapters/28537576>

_“Alea, come to dada!”_

It must have been the millionth time that Marc watched the video which Dani had sent him prior to the race in Sepang; and it had brought more smiles to him than the win in Malaysia.

Marc would never forget the day he had decided to turn up on Dani’s door step. Since that fateful day in summer last year, a lot of things had changed in his life. While he still loved every second he spent on a bike at a track, even enjoying fighting with his current teammate Jorge for every single point, the big change had been in his most private life.

Back in the day, when Dani had broken up with him, Marc would have never imagined that by Christmas last year he would move to Switzerland and basically becoming a papa to a beautiful daughter. And while he wished he could share his luck with the whole world, he knew that anybody knowing out of their very private circle would bring too much limelight to his little family.

Of course, this whole situation hadn’t been easy every single day. Despite being so happy in his relationship and the fact that he would literally give his life for the little girl, Alea’s condition was testing their strength more often than not.

But this single video made it all worthwhile. At 18 months their little princess finally had started to crawl - something some doctors had doubted she would ever learn. Seeing Alea slowly but surely making her way towards Dani, was something no money in this world could buy.

The video ended with Dani catching their girl in his arms, holding her tight while she squeaked in delight. Dani had turned the camera of his phone towards himself, blowing Marc a kiss before kissing Alea’s head.

The smile still on his face, Marc once again checked the time. Another hour to go until they would land in Barcelona, before a private jet would take him to Geneva.

Before take off he had called Dani, simply for the fact of hearing his voice. They had only talked for a few minutes as Alea had been quite cranky and tired. Dani feared that she might come down with something, wanting to lay her down for some sleep. Marc wished he could have been there with them, even though now it would only be a matter of a few hours.

However, Dani always went into worry mode when Alea was behaving even the slightest bit different to usual. In those situations Marc was the only one who could calm the older man down, as well as Alea who usually got upset over the fact that Dani seemed distressed.

Ignoring the fact that Alex was watching him with a knowing grin, Marc once again played the video, a huge smile on his face. In only a few more hours he would be with them again.

~*~

As soon as they had landed in Barcelona, Marc had turned off the air plane mode on his phone, but it wasn’t until he was about to say goodbye to Alex and his father, who where about to return to Cervera, that it started registering several missed calls.

Stopping in a midway hug of his father, Marc immediately started frowning, worry creeping up his spine, when he saw that they all had been made with Dani’s mobile. He didn’t need to say a word for his father and brother to realise that something wasn’t quite right. With shaking fingers Marc opened the last voice mail he had received:

_“Hey, babe... I hope you get this as soon as you land... I... We’re at the hospital. The doctors are running some tests. I... I just wanted to check up on her. Babe... she was so hot. And... and her forehead seemed all swollen. I could barely wake her up... Please, come here as soon as possible. I... we need you here, Marc...”_

Marc could literally feel himself go ghostly white; and if it hadn’t been for Alex’s strong arm, he probably would have collapsed right here and now.

“What’s wrong?”

Alex and his father were looking at him worryingly. He didn’t know what to say. Just a few hours ago, his life had seemed perfect, but Dani’s message had changed that in an instant.

“I need to get to Geneva... Alea is in the hospital...”

~*~

Never before had a single plane ride of a couple of hours seemed to drag into eternity for Marc. Somehow the pilot of the private jet had noticed Marc’s distress, but there was only so much he could do with the weather acting up.

As soon as they had landed in Geneva, Marc had rushed to his car, waiting for him in the private parking lot. He didn’t even care that he risked a heavy speeding ticket when he pushed his car’s limits, just to get to the hospital as quickly as possible.

Once inside the huge modern building, Marc knew where to go to find his family. With Alea’s condition they were regular guests to the clinic, usually for check-ups, definitely not something as serious as this. As soon as he pushed the door to the paediatric neurology ward, his eyes fell onto a lone figure sitting opposite to the nurses’ station - next to the glass door that separated the paediatric intensive care unit.

“Dani!”

Hearing Marc’s voice, the older man looked up and within a second he was falling into Marc’s arms, immediately shedding tears when he felt his lover’s warm embrace.

“Dani, what is it? Where is Alea? Is she okay?”

Marc couldn’t hold back the shiver in his voice. Of course, he had seen Dani in tears before, but this time it felt different; it felt as if he would carry the weight of the world on his shoulders. It took Dani a long moment to calm down again, coughing a few times before he managed to look into Marc’s eyes and gesturing towards the glass door.

“They put her in there... They’re still running tests... They say... There’s probably something wrong with her shunt system, hence the swelling and the drowsiness. But that’s not the reason for the fever... some kind of infection which... which... affecting her brain...”

It seemed like ages until the true meaning behind the words got to Marc, while Dani once again hid his face in Marc’s hoodie, sobbing and shivering. Marc knew that this wasn’t just an ordinary cold; this could very well be a matter of life and death for the little girl whom he viewed as his own daughter.

~*~

They ended up waiting for another hour before a young doctor came to see them. He was clad in blue scrubs, obviously coming from the ICU.

“Mr. Pedrosa?”

Reaching for Marc’s hand, Dani nodded.

“Yeah, that’s me. How is she?”

For a moment the doctor looked at Marc’s and Dani’s joined hands, frowning.

“I would like to discuss your daughter’s condition in private, sir.”

At first Dani didn’t get what the other man meant, but then Marc let go of his hand and it became obvious what the doctor was hinting at.

“Marc is in every meaning Alea’s dad as well.”

“As in official custody?”

The tone in the young doctor’s voice almost made Dani punch him right into his face; but he knew that he would find himself in some serious trouble for that and right now Alea was the only thing that really mattered. Once again taking Marc’s hand, as if to proof his point, Dani looked at the doctor.

“Not yet, but as I am her biological father and legal guardian I can decide who gets news about my daughter. So, how is she?”

Dani could feel Marc’s eyes on him. He knew exactly how the younger man looked at him, only reassuring him by holding his hand tight while still starring at the doctor. For a long moment, no word was spoken as the doctor kept eyeing them up, before gesturing towards a nearby door.

“Would you please come to my office? This is not the right place to discuss such things...”

The doctor’s tone had changed from slightly offended to quiet and Dani didn’t like that one bit. Not letting go of Marc’s hand, Dani stood up and they followed the doctor into the small room. They sat down opposite of the large desk and Dani could see that the doctor was looking for the right words as he leaned against the desk, his eyes pensively on the screen of his computer.

“After running several tests on your daughter, we have a clearer picture of what is wrong. She showed several signs of elevated cranial pressure, including her swollen forehead. And that means that her shunt isn’t working or isn’t working properly any more.”

Hearing those words, Dani bit his lip hard to stop the tears from falling. This situation was the nightmare he had always feared since bringing Alea back from the hospital all those months ago - way later than any other baby after birth due to her condition. Suddenly it wasn’t just fears any more, this was real.

“So another surgery?”

The doctor sighed and Dani just wanted to crawl into Marc’s lap, bury his face on his shoulder and deny what was happening.”

“Unfortunately, this isn’t the only thing we’re facing. If it was just a shunt malfunctioning, we would have her on the operation table by now, but as you know, Alea is running a high fever. We’ve done some lab tests and a CT scan to see if there’s an infection and if so, where the infection was taking hold... And the results showed us high parameters of infection, particular in those brain regions close to the ventricle where her shunt is placed. There is a certain percentage of patients developing a rejection to the shunt, but that is usually within weeks of the placement, not a year as in Alea’s case.”

All those medical phrases where spinning around in Dani’s mind. He tried to clear his thoughts, tried to understand what all of this meant, but it was like hitting a brick wall; his mind simply refused to acknowledge the situation. Only Marc’s shivering voice, brought him back slightly:

“What does that mean? That you can’t replace the shunt?”

Once again, the doctor frowned at Marc, almost as if he was contemplating not telling him. Therefore, it didn’t come as a surprise when he looked back at Dani as he continued.

“The chances for a similar reaction to a new shunt from the same kind are quite high because Alea’s body slowly developed it over time. However, Alea’s case is rare, but not unheard of. Over the last few years a shunt with an alternative material and system has been developed exactly for people with reactions to the usual ones used. Alea would fit the profile.”

“Then what are you waiting for?” Marc almost sounded aggressive. He knew it wasn’t appropriate for this situation, but it was Alea’s life that was at stakes here and the doctor seemed to drag on unnecessarily. And on top of that, Dani didn’t seem to be able to form a single word.

“It’s not as easy as it sounds...” The doctor cleared his voice, still not looking at Marc as he pulled out a few documents from behind his desk. “So far only a hand full of people have this new shunt implanted, they are still in a try and error phase. And none of the patients have been as young as Alea.”

“So...?” Dani’s voice was very quiet. There was a single tear running down his cheek, tenderly wiped away by Marc’s hand.

“Before we can even think about the operation, we have to treat the infection. Alea’s fever is running very high and we already put her on antibiotics. However, right now her brain tissue is not only swollen due to the lack of drainage, but also due to the infection. Only if the swelling decreases by a certain percentage, the operation could be undertaken. But like I told you, the new procedure is still in trial. We won’t know how Alea will react or even if she would make it through the operation. Also... due to the severity of the procedure, and Alea being so young, both parents have to agree with it...”

~*~

Marc was starring at the closed door in front of him. They had only allowed Dani in. And despite being the brave one, the fighting one, in the talk with the doctor, Marc now just felt lost. Like his life had changed for the good side over the last months, everything seemed to come crashing down now in a matter of hours.

Sighing, he pulled his mobile out of the pocket of his jeans, only starring at the black screen. Right now, the only thing he would love to do was calling his family, asking them what to do, but then they had never been in such a situation.

Despite several injuries in their youth as well as during their career, Marc and Alex had been lucky. Their parents never had to decide their possible future, all depending on a medical procedure.

~*~

Dani was openly crying now. In the room next door, a glass window separating them, was his daughter. Lying on a small bed, her eyes closed and her body not moving, several tubes and cables covering her tiny body. She was barely recognizable.

A monitor next to her bed showed her stats and even though Dani barely had medical knowledge, he could see that the pulse and blood pressure was way too high for a toddler. And her fever was still bordering 40°C. He had known that life with Alea wouldn’t be easy, but something like this he had never allowed to enter his mind.

Dani had no idea how long he had been staring at her, wanting her to wake up and cry because of all the fuss around her, when he finally made a decision.

Pressing a kiss to the glass window, he wiped his face, before turning around and rushing towards the exit of the ICU. He knew Marc would be starring at him, when he whisked past him, not looking at the young man who was the love of his live - because once he would look into those dark eyes, he would doubt his decision, would keep on thinking and maybe by then, it would be too late.

~*~

_“Hello?”_

“Hey, it’s me... I need you.”

~*~

Marc found Dani on a bench in front of the hospital. Sitting down next to him, he carefully reached out with his hand, feeling the sting in his chest, when Dani pulled his own hand away. In the other, there was still his mobile, right now inactive, but waiting for a sign of a message.

“Dani?”

At first, the older man slowly shook his head, before looking at Marc with red rimmed eyes.

“I’m sorry.”

~*~

They both followed the red car with their eyes as it parked in an open space near the entrance of the hospital. Standing close, yet with a distinctive distance between them, Dani and Marc watched the blonde woman getting out and walking straight towards them.

Her face went from pretty neutral to confused when she recognized Marc. For a moment she almost halted her walk, but then she seemed to breathe a breath of confidence, her pace slightly slower until she stopped in front of the two men.

“What is _he_ doing here?”

Marc had no idea what he had done to her in person to deserve the slightly bitchy remark. However, he kept a straight face, silently reminded himself several times that this wasn’t about him or his relationship with Dani, but about his daughter’s life.

“He’s here with me... we need to talk. Alea is very ill.”

~*~

Dani kept staring at her, while standing next to the woman he had once loved; or at least thought he had loved. Now it was her time looking through that glass window and seeing her daughter for the first time in almost 16 months. Her frown deepened as she took in the scene that had shattered Dani merely a few hours ago.

“She has grown so much...” Her voice was just a whisper, yet her emotions were being kept hidden. Once again, Dani couldn’t read her, not knowing what to expect from her.

“Yeah... a few days ago... only a few days ago, she actually started crawling...”

Those few words brought the tears back to Dani’s eyes. He wiped them away clumsily, feeling her eyes on him. For several moments there was silence between them, both looking at Alea, both deeply in thought.

“So... Marc. Since when...?” There was a scratch in her voice - not like it had sounded earlier in the car park, but still noticeable.

“Yeah... He came to see me during last year’s summer break.”

She nodded. She knew their history, she didn’t need to ask further. The silence was about to return, but suddenly disrupted by a sigh coming from her.

“Tell me then... What is that procedure you were talking about on the phone?”

Dani could hear the compassion in her voice and for a second his heart missed a beat because it had been ages since that had occurred the last time. His own voice was shaking while explaining what the doctor had told him earlier. Several times he needed to stop for a moment, swallowing against the lump in his throat.

“... and that’s why they need both our consent for the operation.”

When he finished, she just nodded once. A frown appeared on her forehead, her eyes still on the still form of their daughter.

With every passing moment, the fear inside Dani grew that she would deny her consent. And he knew what that would mean for Alea...

“Dani? Could you... could you leave me alone for a bit? I need some time to think this through.”

The voice inside his head screamed at her, asking what was there to think through, but this would only worsen the situation. With a lot of hesitation he finally nodded, even though every fibre of his being was trying to stop him, when he slowly turned around and left the ward.

~*~

“Do you really think she would deny her consent?”

Marc’s low voice brought shivers down Dani’s spine. Once again, they were sat on the seats in front of the door to the paediatric ICU. Dani had pulled up his legs, folding himself into Marc’s side. It wasn’t the first time that Marc, despite their age difference, seemed calmer and more collected. Marc’s arm was lying across Dani’s shoulder, pulling him in and making sure that there was not a single molecule of air between them.

“I don’t know to be honest. I don’t know her any more. I’m not really sure I ever knew her inside out... I had never expected her to leave us like that after Alea’s diagnosis and prognosis.”

Dani’s speech ended in mumbling. Even without seeing it, Marc knew that the older man was fighting to stay strong. Drawing Dani in even further, Marc pressed a soft kiss against Dani’s temple. He himself felt so useless in this moment. Being there for Dani was really only thing he could do.

He might see himself as Alea’s father as well, but when it came to anything official, his presence meant nothing. If it had been him in her situation, he wouldn’t have hesitated a single second.

Dani was just about cuddle further against Marc’s strong chest, when the door to the ICU opened and she came out.

Seeing them, she once again hesitated, her frown deepening. “Dani?”

“Yeah?”

“Can I talk to you for another moment? Talk to you alone?”

~*~

They were sitting in the hospital cafeteria, both holding one of those paper cups between their hands, the black liquid slowly turning cold. Dani could see that she was still deep in thoughts, waiting impatiently for her to start talking.

“Hmm, well... first of all, I wanted to say I’m sorry... I’m sorry for leaving you and Alea on your own.”

Dani almost chocked on the sip of coffee when he heard that. He had expected a lot, but definitely not an apology. He was still fighting the coughing, when she continued.

“I simply didn’t know how to cope. Up until that point everything had been perfect... I was really happy when I was with you and you know that I was looking forward to becoming a parent just as much as you. But when the doctors... My mind just snapped and I was sure that I wouldn’t be strong enough for this...”

“Do you think I felt different in any way? Nothing had prepared me for this either, but I didn’t just give up. Believe me, you grow with the challenge and by now I wouldn’t trade Alea for anything in the world.”

Dani saw her swallowing hearing his words. He could feel the first signs of rage bubbling in his stomach; however, before anything of that could reach the surface, she suddenly reached out, her hand warm when she touched his skin.

“I know, Dani. I can see that when you look at her...”

For a moment, he didn’t know what to do, but instead of letting go, she intertwined her fingers with his - and despite his anger, Dani had to admit that it felt good. Before he even realised what he was doing, he stroked her soft hand with his thumb.

“So... we don’t have that much time to talk it all through... Right now, the only thing that is important is Alea’s condition. Will you give your consent for the operation?”

At first, Dani thought she would pull her hand away again, but instead she reached out for his second hand, until it looked like they were forming a circle - a circle that once had been broken, now looked repaired.

“I will give my consent... but I have a condition for it...”

Dani’s heart was about to spring free from his chest. Alea would get the operation and hopefully recover completely. Right now, he would give into any condition she wanted.

“Anything...”

“I want us to try again... With everything going on, Alea needs both of her parents around and I know I have done a terrible mistake.”

“You want to do what?!”

Dani was sure that he had misunderstood her. Because this was absolute nonsense...

“I want us to get back together for Alea’s sake... She deserves to be brought up in a normal family after everything she’s been through.”

“Are you trying to tell me that wouldn’t be the case with Marc and me?”

“Basically yes. With her father in a gay relationship, a secret relationship... With no mother figure around... And imagine all the pressure and press once your little secret is out. Also, Marc is gone for half a year or more. I remember how it was when you were still racing. He can’t be there when you really need him. Or do you really think he would drop out of a race, just to come back and help you with Alea?”

Instead of the spite he had expected with those words, they actually sounded compassionate in his ears. And this was not adding up in his mind.

“And if I don’t agree with that condition?”

“Then I won’t give my consent for the operation...”

~*~

Making his way up towards the paediatric ICU, Dani’s heart was bleeding. He was sure that his eyes must be red, he had sobbed with every step of the staircase. Dani had expected to see Marc in front of the ICU, but the young man was nowhere to be seen. Instead, just when Dani was about to turn around again, the door of the ICU opened and Alea’s doctor was coming out.

Seeing the surprised expression on the other man’s face, Dani knew that he really must look terrible. However, instead of ignoring it, the doctor stepped up to him and lay his hand on his shoulder.

“The fever is finally coming down, as well as the intracranial pressure. If Alea is stable over the next hour or so, we could start preparing everything for the operation. That is of course only if-”

“You can go ahead with the operation. We both signed .”

With shaking fingers, Dani gave the doctor the piece of paper that would change his life drastically.

~*~

Marc had taken a short walk outside to get some fresh air. That typical hospital smell was something he just couldn’t stand. To also clear his head a bit, he had called Alex, had explained the situation Alea was in. This time it had been Alex in the ‘big brother role’, reassuring him that everything would be alright and that he would come to Switzerland as soon as possible.

After the talk, Marc felt a bit better at least and he made his way back to chairs in front of the ICU. He had hoped to see Dani, but the older man must still be talking with his former girlfriend. Marc swallowed hard at that thought. Something didn’t feel right with her, from that moment they had met in the parking lot earlier. However, he couldn’t tell what it was.

Marc let himself fall down on one of the chairs, burying his face in his hands. It was still hard to believe that his win in Sepang had been less than 72 hours ago. He knew that he should be preparing for the last race in Valencia.

Despite his lead in the championship, Jorge and Maverick could still take the title if the odds were in their favour. And Marc was very sure that this was the matter of Emilio’s messages on his mobile, which he had ignored so far. But he couldn’t do this forever.

Marc rubbed his tired face when he noticed the door being opened and a very familiar figure stepped outside. Immediately, Marc’s heart skipped a beat as he saw Dani’s pale face. Something was very wrong here. Adrenalin rushed through his body and it only took one step to reach his lover and cup his face in his hands.

“What’s wrong, babe? Is it Alea? Talk to me, please...”

Dani just stared at Marc, silent tears forming in his eyes while he tried to make his voice work.

“It’s... the fever is down... and...”

The smile already started to form on Marc’s face when he heard the news, but inside his mind he was so confused why Dani didn’t seem happy about it.

“That’s so good to-”

Marc stopped mid-sentence when the door of the ICU once again opened and it was her, who appeared. For a second she frowned at them, before reaching out and lying her hand on Dani’s shoulder.

“Honey? They are starting to prepare her for the operation...”

Marc could barely hear Dani’s _I am so sorry_ before the older man turned around, holding her hand and disappearing behind the closed door again.

~*~

Hot tears were running down Marc’s cheeks. He found himself on the same bench in the hospital park, which he had sat on earlier. His fingers were shaking as he hesitated calling his brother’s number again. While his insides hurt like somebody had ripped his heart out, his mind was running at a thousand miles an hour.

Marc knew that there was a part of Dani that had never really gotten over Alea’s mother leaving, even though they had not really talked about it. But then, all those moments when Dani had looked at him with pure love in his eyes - he couldn’t believe that it had been for nothing.

Once again wiping his eyes with the sleeve of his hoodie, Marc changed from Alex’s number back to the list of his contacts. Scrolling down, he stopped at Emilio’s name for a moment, his thumb almost pressing call, but then he continued until he found the number of the one person he needed right now.

~*~

Dani tried all in his power to not constantly check the time on the clock on the wall. So far they had been sitting here for over two hours and despite the doctor’s words that the operation could last several hours as they had to be very careful due to Alea being so small, it felt like they had already waited half a lifetime.

She was sitting next to him, with her eyes on the floor and with her hand on Dani’s leg. The touch felt like it was burning right through his jeans, leaving his skin blistering and hot. But all of that was nothing compared to the hollow pain in his chest, right where his heart was located.

About an hour ago, Dani had turned off his mobile phone - after three ignored calls by Marc. He knew that it wasn’t fair at all, that he was a coward for not even trying to fight, but then it was the life of his little girl - the real love of his life - that was on the line. And Dani would literally die to save Alea’s life.

Ironically, it had actually felt like that when he thought about the look in Marc’s eyes, like he had ripped out the younger man’s heart while reaching for the hand of the woman who had left them all this time ago.

But now she was here - and once Alea would make it through the operation, their daughter could go back to her normal life, or at least as normal as it had been with her condition. When Dani felt her hand move, he looked up, at first checking if somebody had come into the waiting room with news from Alea, but they were still alone.

“I’ll go and get us some coffee, okay?”

Dani nodded slowly, letting himself fall back in his chair.

“Milk... no sugar, please.”

“I know, honey.”

~*~

_“Are you sure you want to do this? Once it’s out, there’s no way back.”_

“I know. I need to do it.”

_“Okay. But don’t say I didn’t warn you.”_

~*~

In the end the operation had taken over five hours. Dani had been a mess by the time a doctor finally made his way into the waiting room. Without even realizing it, Dani reached for her hand, not letting it go when the doctor took one of the chairs and sat down in front of them.

“As far as we can tell right now, the surgery has been successful. We took out the old shunt which took us longer than expected. We had to drain quite an amount of pus in the area around it which is mostly likely the reason for the infection. Only after that we could place the new shunt. And as soon as we opened it, the excess fluid was drained from Alea’s brain.”

The doctor’s words almost faded as Dani’s sobs filled the room. The huge tension he had been holding during the last few hours broke within seconds. With a rough voice he whispered prayers of thankfulness, while holding onto her as if his life depended on it.

“So... what now?” Her voice sounded a bit lost as if she couldn’t really believe what the doctor had just told them.

“Right now she is being settled back on the ICU. As we’re speaking my colleagues are trying to take her off the vent if possible.”

“Do... you think... that... the surgery left any more... damage?”

The doctor smiled sympathetically at Dani.

“I hope not. We all know that Alea is a fighter, however, we won’t know for sure until she wakes up. And that could very well be several hours or even two to three days due to her brain being swollen and sensitive from the operation.”

“Can I... we... see her?”

“My colleagues will probably need a bit more time until she will be all settled. Go and get some fresh air or something to eat. By the time you will be back, you can go and see her.”

~*~

In the midst of everything, the most important thing for Marc was the message from his family.

_We love you and we’re so proud of you. Nothing will ever change that. Let us know when there’s news from Alea. Love, mama+papa+alex_

~*~

Dani had asked her for some privacy and to his surprise she had agreed. Outside the grey day had long turned into night, the wind having grown quite cold. However, Dani didn’t really feel that. In a massive wave of emotion he leaned against the outside wall of the hospital, slowly dropping to the ground, his chest heaving with sobs.

He had no idea how long he had been sitting on the cold concrete ground until he finally gained back some control over his mind and body. The last few hours had been torture and Dani knew that if something had gone wrong during the operation, on top of everything that had happened prior to it, he wouldn’t be able to go on with his life.

Only after a few more moments of taking deep breaths, Dani remembered his turned off mobile. He knew that despite everything that had gone down, Marc would like to know how the surgery went. With shaking fingers he turned it back on and before he even had a single chance to unlock the screen, it started vibrating constantly with missed calls and messages. Something must have happened.

Most of the messages were coming from Instagram and as soon as he opened the app, he saw it. Marc had posted a video.

Dani immediately recognized the background as his own living room and from the clothes the younger man was wearing he knew that it must have been filmed very recently. With shaking fingers Dani pressed the play button.

_“Hello everybody. This will come as a surprise, but I need to do this due to personal circumstances, which I will explain in a moment. The way it looks right now, I might not race in Valencia next week. I am very well aware what that means for the championship and I am sorry to my fans. This decision didn’t come easy. You see... Somebody very close to my heart is currently fighting for her life. When I came back home from Malaysia, I got a call that my partner’s daughter had been rushed to the hospital because of a very serious condition. And I consider her my own daughter as well. Because of this, I am in no state to concentrate on a race right now. I hope you will understand this. I know that there shouldn’t be any reason to go into further details because this is the most private part of my life and so far my privacy has always been very important to me. However, despite me stepping back from the championship of this season, I am afraid that people won’t respect my wish for privacy. I don’t want press and photographers in front of the hospital where my daughter is treated. I want my partner and me to be able to put all our strength into her recovery. And that for once in my life something else than racing is more important to me. With that I mean my family, most importantly my partner, and former teammate, Dani and our daughter. I love them more than my own life. Therefore, please respect our privacy in this very hard time. Thank you.”_

~*~

D: Alea is out of surgery. All went well. Where are you, babe?

M: Your house.

D: I am so sorry, Marc. Can you come to the hospital? I need to see you.

_(ten minutes later)_

M: I’m on my way.

~*~

Once again, Dani was staring through the glass into the room where Alea had been settled in. He wasn’t sure if there were more or less machines now compared to before the operation. If he hadn’t known that she had taken a massive step to get well again, he would have had another breakdown here and now.

Rather more feeling than seeing the appearing presence next to him, Dani closed his eyes for a moment, trying to collect his thoughts, not knowing how to start the conversation.

“I never thought you could do something like that. First you leave us alone, very well knowing that Alea had needed her mother. And now...”

When Dani turned towards her, there was only one thing he saw in her face - regret. He kept staring at her until she couldn’t stand it any more and closed her eyes.

“I know that me leaving back then was a huge mistake. I simply had no idea how to handle the situation and my mind just snapped. But don’t think that I forgot about the two of you. You were always stronger than me... And when I saw you... and him... I thought... You already have such a burden with Alea and if... all this blew up... I know it sounds strange, but I really thought it would be easier for you without Marc. But I guess, I underestimated him...”

Dani had no idea what to say about this. For a moment he wondered how she could come up with so much nonsense, but somehow - at least a very tiny bit of his heart - understood.

~*~

They had agreed to meet in a more neutral ground and it actually had been Dani suggesting the hospital chapel. Marc arrived first, carefully opening the door to the dimly lit room. There was nobody else here and so he went to sit on one of the chairs in front of the minimalistic altar.

Wondering if Dani had chosen this place with a certain intention - both of them Catholic and gay and they never even had considered this issue - Marc sighed and leaned back in the chair while closing his eyes.

For a few minutes he just sat there, listening to his own breaths while his mind tried to capture everything that had happened since he had landed in Barcelona.

It was only when he heard the door opening that he shifted, letting his head fall towards his chest as he took a deep breath, before finally turning around.

Dani was standing in the open door, holding onto the hard wood, with tears in his eyes. It was obvious that he hesitated and in this moment Marc felt like last year when his heart had told him to go to Geneva. It was the same pressure inside his chest and somehow Marc knew what to do.

He quickly stood up and walked over to Dani. Knowing that by now there was no need for caution, Marc lay his hand on Dani’s damp cheek, pulling him close until their lips met. For a long moment neither of them wanted to part, until Dani finally pulled back with a sigh, burying his face in Marc’s chest.

“I am so sorry...” The words were mumbled into the soft fabric of Marc’s hoodie, but the younger man still understood. Instead of an answer, he simply wrapped his arms around Dani, holding him close.

They didn’t want to move at first. Moving would mean dealing with the issue at hand and they weren’t ready for it.

“How is Alea?” Marc whispered, his nose taking in Dani’s uniquely smell.

“The surgery went well... The shunt is working and the infection seems to be retreating. They say that she should wake up as soon as her brain’s swelling decreases.”

Hearing those words, Marc’s heart seemed to miss a beat before pumping away even harder inside his chest.

“Then I think we should be by her side,” Marc said with a soft smile.

~*~

By night everything inside the hospital seemed to slow down. The lights on the paediatric ICU were dimmed and the night shift nurse didn’t make a sound when she came to check on Alea every half an hour.

Usually visiting times would be over by the evening, but on this ward the parents were welcomed to stay over night - including Dani and Marc.

They had pulled up two chairs to Alea’s bed and by now Dani had lost the fight against sleep, as his body finally took the rest it needed after everything that had happened. The older man was leaning against Marc’s shoulder, their fingers still intertwined.

They hadn’t talked about the huge elephant in the room yet. They hadn’t dealt with the uproar in the motorsport community after Marc’s video. There would be time for all of that - once their daughter would be well again.

And by now she seemed to be improving with every hour, even so far that they had taken her off the ventilator two hours ago. Marc’s eyes didn’t leave her face for a single moment.

While sleeping, Dani was still holding onto his right hand, Marc’s left hand was on the pillow next to Alea’s face. He could feel her soft breath against his skin.

This way he didn’t miss when Alea started to wiggle with her nose while wrinkling her forehead. Marc immediately wanted to wake Dani, but still waiting for Alea to open her eyes.

And Marc didn’t remember a single moment when he had been happier than when Alea started to blink before her tired eyes opened - obviously still drowsy, but when she recognized Marc the soft word _papa_ left her lips.


End file.
